Auditor alarmed over failure to protect Nairobi schools

November 22, 2016 3:36 pm

The audit conducted on the Nairobi County Government also revealed a severe malfunction of the Sh400 million Integrated Urban Surveillance System set up by City Hall/FILE

By SIMON NDONGA, NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 22 – A report by the Auditor General has revealed that outsiders have invaded Muslim Primary School and are occupying blocks of seven class rooms at night.

According to the study, the intruders are using several classrooms as sitting room, bedroom, kitchen and even toilets.

This was one among eight schools where vandalism was rampant with learning of students affected by lack of desks, leaking roofs and cold class rooms because of damaged windows.

“The Nairobi County Government has various schools in the Pangani Ward – Starehe Constituency. A field visit of the primary schools showed that the county has not constructed perimeter walls to protect the school land,” it stated.

The Auditor General further stated that the situations reveal significant impairments in some of the government properties.

“Vandalism is also rampant in the eight schools hence learning for the pupils is normally affected by lack of desks and other social amenities,” it indicated.

The audit conducted on the Nairobi County Government also revealed a severe malfunction of the Sh400 million Integrated Urban Surveillance System set up by City Hall.

The study explained that the project entailed the installation of surveillance cameras, installation of a new traffic management system, construction of a control centre and installation of associated software.

The statement by the Auditor General indicated that communication between “the control centre and several surveillance points was not possible because of lack of requisite equipment.”

“Most cameras installed to manage traffic were not functional and of the few that were active, a signal could not be displayed in the control room due to poor internet services.”

The report concluded that the surveillance system and security installations may not be relied upon and the traffic management within the CBD may be affected.

It further revealed that during the 2014/2015 financial year, the Nairobi County Government failed to meet its revenue collection target by Sh2.8 billion despite implementing the cashless payment system.

According to the report, this is attributed to the lack of City Hall to implement the Integrated Financial Management Information Systems which is considered to be more secure.

The study further stated that revenue collections continue to be below expected revenue collections despite the fact that the county has the potential to collect more than double the amount.

It also revealed that the County borrowed Sh298 that had not been factored in the approved estimates.